Mediagazer: Roblox plans to hide advertisements from users 13 and younger, after nonprofit Truth in Advertising filed an FTC complaint in April 2022 against the company (Jeffrey Rousseau/GamesIndustry.biz)

3:30 PM ET, March 31, 2023

Top News:

The NYT, LAT, and WaPo won't buy Twitter Blue; NYT, LAT, BuzzFeed, and Politico won't reimburse reporters for Blue, but Semafor and other small outlets plan to — BuzzFeed isn't ponying up, but for other outlets, paying might make sense. — Pranav Dixit

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, @sarafischer, Techdirt, @brooklynmarie, @alex_panetta, The Comeback, @pkafka, CNN, @hansmahncke, @maxwelltani, @oliverdarcy, @jessespector, @rmac18, @roslyntalusan, @bdherzinger, @thekidskoob, @ryangrim, @claire_goforth, @thomaschattwill, @timfullerton, @skooks, @paleofuture, @boydhilton, @davidclinchnews, @williamshatner, @stevelackmeyer, @ndrew_lawrence, @stevanzetti, @dancow, Vox, @moorehn, @andrewmarchand, @jbenton, @mattnavarra, @roslyntalusan, @katebevan, @studentactivism, @bobmoorenews, @johniadarola, @mikeisaac, @spj_tweets, @tinu, @helenkennedy, @kt_so_it_goes, @cfidd, @pkafka, @charles_gaba, @dellcam, @scottnover, @benjysarlin, @wfkars, @chrismessina, @kimmasters, @bruce_arthur, @scottnover, @scalzi, @ewong, @jacobrubashkin, @oliverdarcy, @nicosgonzalez, @andybcampbell, @joshtpm, @themaxburns, @moorehn, @adrianweckler, @wtfis2bdone, @ryanhanrahan, @lxeagle17, Boing Boing, The Wrap, @hammancheez@c.im, Awful Announcing and Social Media Today, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Email: The White House will not pay for Twitter Blue for its staff; the White House and top officials' accounts like POTUS will likely maintain gray checkmarks — The White House will not pay to have its staff's official Twitter profiles continue to be verified, according to guidance issued to staffers via an email obtained by Axios.

Discussion: Bloomberg, @mattdizwhitlock, @bobcesca_go, @ashleygjovik, @wutangkids, @iamsophianelson, @reichlinmelnick, @fordm, @broderick, @evanmcmurry, Vanity Fair, @delpercios, @rory_johnston and The Daily Dot, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:
Document: Twitter plans to exempt its top 500 advertisers and 10K most-followed, previously verified organizations from paying $1,000 per month for a checkmark

Alyssa Lukpat / Wall Street Journal:

Top editors of 38 news organizations around the world sign a letter condemning the detention of WSJ's Evan Gershkovich and calling for his immediate release — The editors condemned Mr. Gershkovich's detention in a letter to the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Safi Bugel / The Guardian:

Gal-Dem, an outlet for women and non-binary POC, is closing after eight years, citing the difficulty of relying on partnerships and its membership model — After eight years of operation, staff statement blames financial challenge of running independent media outlet

New York Times:

Fox News hosts rally around Trump following his indictment, denouncing it as politically motivated and as a cause for potential unrest — Despite recent criticism, the network's star personalities joined other leading conservatives in denouncing the indictment as politically motivated and a possible cause for unrest.

Alyssa Boyle / AdExchanger:

A new bipartisan Senate bill, almost identical to a 2022 bill, would force companies with $20B+ in annual digital ad revenue to sell part of their business — Say hello to the US government's latest attempt to force antitrust regulations on the digital advertising industry. — It might sound familiar.

Discussion: AdExchanger, @senmikelee, @swodinsky, Reuters, Marketing Brew, Mike Lee US Senator for Utah, @jason_kint, @digiphile, @berinszoka, Digiday, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @dcnorg and NetChoice

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:

UCLA's Hollywood Diversity Report finds that among 2022's top 100 original streaming films, 64% had casts with at least 30% POC vs. 57% for theatrical films — The share of women and people of color in key positions on theatrical releases slide back to 2019 levels in latest annual report

Discussion: @indiewire, @dranachristina, @beingjanine, New York Daily News and @thewrap

Mike Hume / Washington Post:

The Washington Post vows to continue covering gaming even as its gaming news hub Launcher, which began in 2019, officially closes on March 31 — It's not over. Yes, Launcher is ending — officially closing as a subsection of The Post on March 31 following a series of newsroom layoffs — but the mission does not die.

Discussion: @walldo, @rcmacleod, @rcmacleod, @rcmacleod, @teddyamen and @launcherwp

Luke Winkie / Slate:

Interviews with writers who publish daily Wordle clue guides, published by a slew of outlets since they reliably generate substantial traffic — Sam Hill, an editor at the technology website Digital Trends, has penned 647 articles about Wordle. Each of them follows the same basic format …

Discussion: @jbenton, @luke_winkie, @iethics and Mashable

Bloomberg:

Russia's Federal Security Service detains Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on suspicion of “espionage in the interests of the American government” — Russia's Federal Security Service said it detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg …

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Human Rights Watch, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, The Desk, Talking Biz News, Associated Press, @polinaivanovva, @sulliview, @repmcgovern, @congressmanraja, @nytimes, @francescaebel, @dylanbyers, @govmurphy, @billbrowder, @pressfreedom, @dylanbyers, @presssec, @christopherjm, @dwnews, @pressfreedom, @maxseddon, @pressfreedom, @michaeldweiss, @sarahrainsford, @annanemtsova, @shustry, @asluhn, @maxseddon, @lindakinstler, @jazzedloon, @georebekah, Axios, @jimsciutto, @jfberke, @kevinrothrock, @r__politik, @neilphauer, @kevinrothrock, @neilphauer, @felix_light, @leonidragozin, @neilphauer, @lolgop, @brendancarrfcc, @freedomofpress, @timobrien, @tpcarney, European Federation …, @rohded, @newsguild, @mgongadze, @clancyreports, @natashabertrand, @jeffsonnenfeld, @followtheh, @billpascrell, @akurmanaev, @mattmcbradley, The Daily Beast, @oliverdarcy, @domenpresern, @kaitlancollins, @billbrowder, @domenpresern, @moorehn, CNBC, Financial Times, Washington Post, The Guardian and Reuters

Jeffrey Rousseau / GamesIndustry.biz:

Roblox plans to hide advertisements from users 13 and younger, after nonprofit Truth in Advertising filed an FTC complaint in April 2022 against the company — Changes come nearly a year after advertising watchdog filed an FTC complaint over company's ad policies

more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sources: crypto outlet The Block has laid off roughly one-third of staff, including interim CEO Bobby Moran, and promoted head of research Larry Cermak to CEO — The Block, a crypto media company that got caught up in a funding scandal related to disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried …

Discussion: @timccopeland, @kylesgibson and @pressgazette

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 3:30 PM ET, March 31, 2023.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Alan Jones / AOL:
BBC journalists are set to stage a 24-hour strike on May 5 to coincide with the reporting of local election results, after a first walkout on March 15

Discussion: The Guardian, RadioToday and HoldtheFrontPage

BBC:
BBC appoints ex-ITN CEO John Hardie to lead an independent review of its social media guidelines for freelance, non-news presenters after the Gary Lineker furor

Discussion: Deadline, Sky News, Variety, Reuters, Yahoo News and The Irish News

Ben Cohen / Wall Street Journal:
Apple's classical music app fixes the genre's main problem of search and discovery using metadata from Amsterdam-based Primephonic, which Apple acquired in 2021

Discussion: Billboard, Numlock News and @whet, more at Techmeme »

Twitter:
Twitter launches its Verified Organizations program, which lets companies get a verified checkmark for $1,000/month and their affiliate accounts for $50/month

Discussion: @elonmusk, Mashable, @ethicalsid and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:
Hollywood producers and unions say COVID-19 safety protocols will end after May 11, the same day the Biden administration lifts the national pandemic emergency

Discussion: @lidsville, Variety, Deadline and Los Angeles Times

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Netflix restructures to make fewer, but better, movies, and will combine its small and midsize film units; executives Lisa Nishimura and Ian Bricke are leaving

Discussion: TechCrunch, Engadget, Variety, @lucas_shaw, @bqprime, @masasoncap, @stanphylcap, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @variety_pats, @jenny8lee, @susanlitv, Fox Business, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Media Play News and Collider

Earlier Picks:

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
YouTube adds Shorts data to its Total Reach metric for artists and says fan-created Shorts increased the average artist's unique viewers by 80%+ in January 2023

Discussion: YouTube Official Blog, Complete Music Update, @nealmohan, Communicate Online, @mattnavarra, Tubefilter, Billboard and Forbes

Rebekah Valentine / IGN:
ESA cancels E3 2023, after Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and Ubisoft announced they would not attend the event originally scheduled for June 13 to June 16

Faisal Mahmud / Al Jazeera:
Bangladeshi police arrest Prothom Alo correspondent Shamsuzzaman Shams under the Digital Security Act after he wrote about rising food prices in the country

Discussion: @mg2411, @maarafat71, @bjimbd, @profhuq, @nomhossain and @masalabai

Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Succession's last season may mark the end of “peak TV” as big media groups slow spending growth; Ampere: US TV show orders fell 23% YoY in January and February

Discussion: @ashkan, @internetalena, @germanotes and @annaknicolaou

Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Invite-only Twitter alternative T2 plans to let Twitter users who are about to lose their checkmark on April 1 to carry over the verification to its service

Discussion: Fast Company, TechCrunch, Forbes, Barrett Media, @gabor, @martinsfp, @gabor and Daily Mail, more at Techmeme »

Issac J. Bailey / Nieman Reports:
The Dominion lawsuit exposes Fox News as an entertainment network masquerading as a news outlet, as executives approve hosts spreading lies to keep ratings high

Discussion: NBC News, @niemanreports, Media Matters for America and Washington Post

From Techmeme:

Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says the DOJ's “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision”, would hurt US consumers, and jeopardize the US' global tech leadership

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Hannah Lang / Reuters:
Sources: a16z, Ripple, Kraken, and Circle are jostling for a seat on Trump's promised crypto advisory council, which is expected to set up a bitcoin reserve

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page